Ripon, WI
Ripon, WI's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Out of every US place USFS scores, Ripon lands at the 34th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a figure built from its 3,478 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Ripon's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 35th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Ripon rates 91.5% Minimal exposure against just 8.5% Direct and 0% Indirect — of 3,478 buildings counted, few sit close enough to burnable vegetation for USFS to flag them individually.
How Ripon compares
Within Wisconsin, Ripon ranks higher (79th percentile) than it does nationally (34th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Ripon ranks 20,819 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 4,799 by building count (1 is largest). Within Wisconsin alone, it ranks 173 of 808 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Wisconsin on its state page.
Ripon and the insurance market
Ripon's moderate wildfire rating (34th percentile) isn't the kind of score driving the carrier pullback making news in the highest-risk Western markets — but a standard homeowners quote is still worth comparing on its own terms.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Even with 91.5% of Ripon outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones, basic hardening — gutter maintenance, ember-resistant vents — is inexpensive relative to the regional burn-probability risk noted above. Details in the home-hardening guide.
Where Ripon's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 3,478 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Ripon. The exposure-zones guide covers what Ripon's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.